Mexico: Guerrero narco-violence breaks grisly record

At least 15 people were killed March 13—four of them beheaded and left in public places—in and around Mexico's popular beach resort of Acapulco, just as foreign tourists start arriving for spring break. Among the dead were six municipal police and the brother of the city's ex-mayor. It was part of a wave of violence in which a total of 29 were killed in 24 hours around Guerrero state. The worst bloodshed was in Ajuchitlán del Progreso, where a confrontation between army troops and sicarios left 11 dead, including one soldier.

With this violence, Guerrero registered the highest number dead in a single state in a 24-hour period so far this year, surpassing the 24 killed in Durango on Jan. 20, as well as the 26 killed in Chihuahua on Dec. 9—which had been the record under the current presidential term of Felipe Calderón. (LAT, Milenio, March 14)

Meanwhile, three people connected to the US consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, were killed in a drive-by shooting in the violence-plagued border city. One of the victims was a US citizen employed at the consulate. Her husband and the husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate were also killed. (CNN, March 14)